David Horowitz: The Anti-American Times

The battle to topple Saddam Hussein is over; the war for Iraq and the Middle East is just beginning. And it is clear already that the political left and the institutions it dominates, the university and the media, are going to tilt to the other side. Today's top story in both The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times is about a demonstration in Baghdad of anti-American Iraqis who want an Islamic state. Every free citizen of this country and indeed of the world has a stake in the new Iraq being a secular state in the first place and a democratic state if possible. An Islamic state is by its very nature a state that is intolerant, unjust and bound to preside over an impoverished nation. There is no example of an Islamic state that is anything else. An Islamic state is also potentially a state that will join the Islamicist camp and become a harbor for terrorists conducting a jihad against the infidel world. Yet two of the most powerful media institutions in the United States -- the nation that stands between the world and Islamic empire -- are using their considerable influence to promote the enemy camp.

Andrew Sullivan on the BBC

This passage from the BBC about Abu Abbas simply defies belief. No use of the term "terrorist," of course:

A wanted Palestinian fugitive, Abu Abbas, has been detained by US forces in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. He led the Palestinian Liberation Front, which hijacked a US cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, in 1985. During the hijack, an elderly American passenger died. Abu Abbas had been mentioned by US President George W Bush as an example of the kind of figure given refuge by the former regime of Saddam Hussein.

In subsequent versions, the BBC seems to have substituted the term "was killed" for "died." I guess even they have their limits in terrorism apologetics.

Newsweek: The Saddam Files

Kubba’s money insulated his family from mayhem, but it did not shield him from witnessing the almost casual slaughter of his people. Last week he recalled a “scene that haunts me still.” Kubba was driving his Mercedes through Basra’s Saad Square when he came upon some 600 men who had been detained while police checked their IDs. According to Kubba, “Chemical Ali” Hassan al-Majid, Saddam’s half brother and the tyrant of southern Iraq, stopped and inquired, “No IDs? Just shoot them all.” Kubba watched as “they shot over 600 people in front of me.”

Common Sense and Wonder

Signs That You've Already Grown Up


Your potted plants stay alive.

Fooling around in a twin-sized bed is absurd.

You keep more food than beer in the fridge.

6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.

You hear your favourite song on an elevator.

You carry an umbrella. You watch the Weather Channel.

Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook-up and break-up.

You go from 130 days of vacation time to 7.

Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as 'dressed up'.

You're the one calling the police because those darn kids next door don't know how to turn down the stereo.

Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.

You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's.

Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

You no longer take naps from noon to 6 p.m.

Dinner and a movie the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

MTV News is no longer your primary source for information.

You go to the drugstore for Ibuprofen and antacids, not condoms and pregnancy tests.

A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer 'pretty good stuff'.

You actually eat breakfast foods at breakfast time.

Grocery lists are longer than macaroni & cheese, diet Pepsi & Ho-Ho's.

"I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."

Over 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

You don't drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

Memo to Nancy Pelosi:

In a message dated 4/15/2003 4:18:27 PM Pacific Standard Time, JAGudehus writes:

A Failed Plan?

1. We took Iraq in less time than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.
2. It took less time to find evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
3. It took Teddy Kennedy longer to call the police after his Oldsmobile sunk at Chappaquiddick than it took the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard.
4. We took Iraq in less time than it took to count the votes in Florida in the year 2000!

Nancy, you and other Democratic leaders sure have a strange concept of failure.

Building a Democratic Iraq, Adeed Dawisha and Karen Dawisha, in the 1 May 2003 issue of Foreign Affairs

For the sake of all parties involved, the American endeavor in Iraq must not end in a more agreeable dictatorship or a successor regime that promises nothing beyond greater cooperation with Washington. The United States' standing in the world rests not only on its might, but also on the democratic values that it espouses and propagates. The country and its allies therefore cannot shrink from setting Iraq on a democratic path. Not only will Arab and international opposition to regime change be assuaged if a democracy results; building democracy in Baghdad is also the best way to eliminate the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Restructuring Iraq's political system will be laden with difficulties, but it will certainly be feasible. At the same time, the blueprint for Iraq's democracy must reflect the unique features of Iraqi society. Once the system is in place, its benefits will quickly become evident to Iraq's various communities; if it brings economic prosperity (hardly unlikely given the country's wealth), the postwar structure will gradually, yet surely, acquire legitimacy. As is shown by the eastern European example, where ex-communist dictatorships have now lined up to join NATO and the European Union, putting in place democratic political institutions that function properly, meet the particular needs of a given society, and deliver the goods can rather quickly produce "habituation" -- that is, inculcate democratic habits in the population that become well entrenched and resilient. A democratic federal system would turn Iraq into the standard against which other Arab governments are judged, and make the country a natural ally of the West. Such an outcome would benefit everyone -- but especially the people of Iraq, who, after suffering for so long, deserve no less.

[via AndrewSullivan.com]

"Perhaps we cannot make this a world in which children are no longer tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children," -- Albert Camus.

William Saletan's Slate Blog: Syria is undemocratic, supports terrorism, has weapons of mass destruction, violates human rights, has invaded its neighbors, and has violated a biological weapons treaty. Now evidence of its complicity in Iraq's defense is growing. I don't want a war with Syria. But Syria sure is acting as though it wants a war with us.

What a surprise! AP: Shooting at LA airport El Al counter ruled terrorist act.

LOS ANGELES - An Egyptian immigrant's deadly attack on an Israeli airline ticket counter last year has been ruled a terrorist attack related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an FBI spokesman said Friday.

"Given his political views and the fact that El Al is an Israeli government-owned airline, that met the criteria for a terrorist attack," said Matthew McLaughlin, a spokesman for the Los Angeles field office of the FBI.

Common Sense and Wonder: The anti war crowd is anti free choice.

As these nitwits from International ANSWER and Voices in the Wilderness explain Iraq and the rest of the world must not be able to choose what kind of life they wish to live but must be protected from American style liberty. Did they ever complain about the destruction of the Marsh Arabs habitat by Saddam. Of course not, it was done by a so-called "socialist" dictator. But KFC and McDonalds that's real evil to them. These people are totalitarian to the core as well as racist I bet if you question them they would rather the North Koreans continue to starve under their psychopathic dictator than allow in western style food or heaven forbid GM grains.